DR1 Travel News - 7 March 2017

Annual Orchids Exhibition at National Botanical Garden
Coming up is one of the best times to visit the National Botanical Garden (JBN) in Santo Domingo. The Dominican Orchids Society and the National Botanical Garden invite the public to the 45th Annual Orchids Exhibition highlighted by the 35th Annual Orchids Contest. The society is also celebrating its 50th anniversary hosting the event.

The exhibition runs from 9 am to 6 pm on 16, 17, 18 and19 March 2017. Workshops and courses are held concurrently throughout the exhibition. Lovely orchids are available for sale. Admission is RD$150 that includes a trip on the Garden’s shuttle and the pass to the orchids exhibition.

Taste Santo Domingo opens 16 March 2017
Taste Santo Domingo 2017 this year is part of the Hub Santo Domingo, the business marketplace organized by the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce at the Convention Center of the Ministry of Foreign Relations on the Malecón. The event will take place 16-18 March 2017.

Master Chef Christine Ha, who has taken cooking with the senses to a new level, will be participating in the event. She is an American chef, writer, and TV host who was the first blind contestant of MasterChef TV program and the winner of its third season in 2012.

Coming December 2017: Royalton Bavaro
Blue Diamond Resorts of the Sunwing Group of Canada announced advances on the construction of the Royalton Bávaro in Punta Cana. The Canadian chain promotes itself as the Caribbean’s fastest growing resort chain, with a 32-property portfolio exceeding 14,000 rooms in six countries.

President Danilo Medina was there for the groundbreaking ceremony of the 730–room hotel. The company is investing US$200 million in the new property. The governmental Banco de Reservas is helping finance the project.

Michelin star chef working in Santiago
The Barttola Brasserie of Santiago announced its new menu has been unveiled under the guidance of Michelen star winning chef Francisco Javier Cabrera Pérez of Granada, Spain. In addition to the his Michelen star, Cabrera has also to his credit a Sol Repsol prize, granted by the Spanish Royal Academy of Gastronomy (Real Academia Española de la Gastronomía) in 2015.

The 34-year old Spanish chef becomes the first Michelen star chef to head a Dominican kitchen in the country. He won his Michelen star in 2013 working at the Els Brancs Restaurant at the five-star Hotel Vistabella in Roses, Girona on the Costa Brava. The restaurant served creative Catalan cuisine.

Perez is a graduate of the Escuela de Hostelería Cueva de Nerja in Málaga. He has worked in the kitchens of the Hotel Santa Paula, Villa Oniria in Granada; and the restaurants El Bulli with chef Ferrán Adriá, El Celler de Can Roca with chef Joan Roca, Restaurant Azurmendi in Larrabetzu and Skina in Marbella.